Demo Cooking Class

T is away this weekend and in my quest to find something to do, I signed myself up for a demonstration cooking class! It's that time again in TO when restaurants across the city offer special prix fixe menus. We made reservations for dinner next week but for me, I found the local (name of kitchen stuff maker that starts with a C) culinary center (we'll call it CCC) had a special discounted class!. A little back story. Back in Chicago, we went to the CCC for a corporate event cooking class - I think it was when they were trying to lure in T to the company. We missed out on going back to take other classes when we actually lived there. Funny thing when we moved to TO, we noticed there was another center here! And downtown and close by! I looked them up online and found they only have two locations - Chicago and Toronto! What a coincidence. I hadn't gotten around to exploring their classes, but I was hesitant because they are kinda pricey.

Back to tonight. The class was 2 hours, no work involved - one gets to watch the chefs do all do the cooking and then just eat and enjoy! As L put it, "it's like watching food channel.. but YOU FINALLY GET TO EAT IT AT THE END!". And as a bonus, you get a "special gift" worth (as least that's what they said) half the price of the class! The menu wasn't a "OOOOhhhh, I SO want to learn to make that", but it was definitely something fun to do. On the menu:

As a little starter treat, we got a tiny salad and a grilled/toasty bread with goat cheese and cranberry chutney. I forgot to take a picture of it.

Dish 1: Chana Masala with a spoon. The traditional chick pea indian dish, but pureed into a soup. Served with yogurt + mint and some crusty bread croutons. It was good, but not my cup of spices.

Dish 2: Moroccan Inspired Slow Roasted Chicken with Basmati Rice. This was really tasty. The rice was coconuty and fruity. The chicken was roasted with a mix of veggies and lentils.

Dish 3: Sweet Potato Poutine. Dessert! A play on the Canadian dish, made with sweet potato oven-baked fries, marscarpone cheese (instead of cheese curds), with a chocolate gravy and bourbon caramel sauce. OOOohhh, so decadent.

The "special gift" was a set of tongs and ladle. If you take a class, you also get 20% off their products, so I got suckered in and bought some stuff. I guess that's why they have these special offers :) I was a bit bummed being (I think) the only single person there. Everyone else was paired up with a friend, significant other or group, but since it was a demo class and not hands-on (i.e. not have to cook with others), it wasn't too bad. Overall, it was a lot of fun and something different to do on a Friday night by myself.

I'm also thinking of signing up for a 4-class series with a local caterer that will run on Tuesday nights in March. I'm nervous about planning so far in advance, taking a class on my own, and committing myself for 3-hours, 4 Tuesdays in a row. The classes are cheaper than most places I researched, and are about "combining flavours, colours, textures and temperatures for a beautiful and composed plate". AKA, fancy restaurant food. Which sounds fun, but daunting. I keep wondering if I should hold-off and sign up for a "Basics" class to learn knife skills and the usual "cutting, roasting, baking". No turning back if I pay the deposit tomorrow, though! Stay tuned. Hehe.